


Identify with me

by Agirlcandream100



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien in disguise, Coffee Shop, Dorks in Love, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Identity Reveal, autumn setting, french pastries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2020-09-19 07:08:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20327131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Agirlcandream100/pseuds/Agirlcandream100
Summary: When Adrien has to run away from Hawkmoth in disguise he finds a job at a café. After helping Marinette out of the rain there one day she becomes a regular visitor...





	1. Chapter 1

Adrien collapsed gasping on his bedroom floor pushing his door closed with his back. Plagg floated down anxiously in front of him. “Hey kid…” he anxiously watched over his charge with new fear. Adrien desperately fought back the sobs choking him. His throat felt tight and raw, his head was pounding and his stomach had started churning. “I can’t believe it” he heard himself saying in a small broken voice. “I’m so sorry kid” Plagg rubbed against his cheek in a reassuring manner “I didn’t know”. 

Adrien staggered to his feet and collapsed into his desk chair. He caught sight of his reflection in the blank screens of his computer. Adrien Agreste. Son of Hawk Moth. He quickly spun his chair around to face away only to catch his reflection again in his massive floor length windows. 

“I can’t stay here anymore, not now. I have to leave.” Adrien stood up with new found determination despite the conflict still raging in his mind and heart. “It isn’t safe for either of us in this house. He can’t find you, it’s too risky.” “What are you going to do? Anywhere you go in the city you’ll be recognised” Plagg asked quietly eyeing him with care. “I’ll come up with a plan.” Adrien said suddenly sounding exhausted “For now let’s get some rest, we’re safe for now”

3 days later he was ready. It had been 3 days of overwhelming stress and trepidation but at last they had everything they needed. He had avoided his father at every turn which wasn’t hard considering he rarely saw him anyway. Nathalie had been more difficult, she had sensed something was wrong and had kept a very close eye on him but thankfully she hadn’t interrupted any of his plans. The hardest person to convince was Nino who had constantly asked him what was wrong. Eventually he had managed to get him to stop asking questions by saying he was going through a rough patch with his father (That was an understatement to say the least) but Nino still kept looking at him with sympathetic concern.

Adrien looked over everything once more. A plain black bag with 3 changes of plain and definitely not Gabriel clothes. A fake ID to the name of Pierre Dubois. Contact lenses to change the colour of his iris from green to brown. A large but trendy pair of glasses. A generous supply of Camembert for Plagg. As much money as he could withdraw from his bank account in 3 days. A burner phone that couldn’t be traced. 

He took a deep breath and stepped through into his bathroom. Plagg looked at him with uneasiness from the side “Are you sure about this kid?” Adrien nodded more to himself than anyone else “No going back now.” He faced himself squarely in the mirror with a lump in his throat “Goodbye Adrien Agreste.”

He took up the scissors with shaking hands and froze before grabbing a large piece of golden hair, swallowing hard and cutting it off before he could think twice. He slowly worked his way around his head cutting off more and more of his signature blonde locks. However he cringed when he looked into the mirror at the mess he was making and there was no way he could do a decent job on the back so he reluctantly let Plagg take over as he read through the instructions on the permanent hair dye kit he had bought. “Ta da!” Adrien looked up when he heard Plagg’s words to see a very short but surprisingly neat head of blonde hair. He breathed a sigh of relief and gave a small weary smile to his kwami “Good job Plagg. Now we just have to figure out how to turn it brown.” 

Over an hour later Adrien stood in front of his bedroom mirror peering at his new hair as Plagg used an entire bottle of air freshener to get rid of the smell of the dye while complaining loudly about it. “We have to make sure to get rid of the cut hair and the packaging from that dye too. There can’t be any evidence left behind that could be used to find us.” Adrien was carefully putting in his contacts when Plagg zipped back into the room again. Placing the glasses on he turned to Plagg a little anxiously. “So the big question is do I look recognisable or not like this?” “Frankly Adrien” he looked at him with the hint of a smirk “I think people have got away with far poorer disguises than that.”

Adrien stood by the window in his slowly lightening room, dawn would be here soon and he needed to be gone before then, so he took one last look round his room. He tried to tell himself it was an act of practibility not sentiment as he was checking to see if he had left anything behind but his heart squeezing painfully in his chest betrayed him. Truthfully he took very little personal possessions with him. He had tied Marinette’s charm bracelet around his wrist as he hoped it would bring him good luck. He wanted to take a photo of his mother but couldn’t risk anything that would tie him back to his old identity. So with one last look he said goodbye to his old life and climbed out of the window to go and find his new one. 

They decided that the best way to test if anyone would recognise him would be to walk down the street sticking close to places he could hide if need be. After a couple of hours of walking around the gradually filling up streets of Paris without barely getting looked at twice Adrien started to feel confident enough to try applying for a job. Technically he was still in his last year of Lycee but he was 18 already and knew with a sense of guilt and frustration that he wouldn’t be able to go back to his old school again. He would miss school and his friends, especially Nino, but to be independent of his father he needed to find a job. 

He felt a sense of relief when the first place he went into dismissed him instantly without recognising him at all. However as the day dragged on and the rejections kept piling up his relief was rapidly replaced by panic and desperation. Adrien tried applying at every kind of business he could think of including restaurants, shops, cafes, tourist sites and libraries. The light was quickly fading and it was starting to drip with rain when a warm welcoming looking café caught his eye. The sign was painted red and black with the words jardin de coccinelles (Ladybug’s garden) inscribed on it. Thoughts of his beloved partner made a light grow in his heart and a gentle smile on his lips as he found himself drawn into the café. 

A woman’s kindly voice called that she would be with him in a moment as he stood and surveyed the room. It was certainly themed after Paris’s own superhero from the décor while retaining a Parisian charm all of its own. The tables were small and nestled snuggly together without being crowded while a soft light was emitted by the glowing lamps scattered about in a seemingly random fashion. Best of all a painting of Ladybug herself standing strong hung proudly on the wall.

A voice behind him startled him out of his tired wandering thoughts. “What can I get for you?” He spun around the see a cheery looking woman smiling at him with a pad of paper and pen at the ready. “Job” he found himself numbly blurting out without a thought only to jump at the realisation and try to apologise. The woman seemed rather taken back but looked at him curiously anyway. Good grief he probably looked a mess right now after the day he had had he thought glumly to himself as he prepared himself for yet another rejection.

“How old are you?” he heard the woman saying, a quick glance at her name tag revealed her to be called Marie. “18” Adrien immediately replied with a slightly confused frown. “What is your name?” Adrien had to pause for a moment to remember what he was supposed to say but thankfully gave the correct answer. “And why are you looking for a job dear?” Marie was looking at him kindly but with a worrying amount of concern. He supposed he did look pretty pathetic really. “Because I really need one?” His answer came out as more of a question than a reply but he was starting to get beyond the point of actually carting now. He shuffled awkwardly on his feet tugging uncomfortably on the sleeves of his plain black hoodie as he felt her gaze on him. 

“How badly do you need this job?” her voice was soft and tender and reminded him slightly of his mothers. He sighed and dared to look up at her from the floor “Honestly I have no job, little money and don’t currently have a place to sleep tonight.” He cringed fearing the worst. Maybe she would call the police and they would identify him and drag him back to his father… “Well then let’s get you set up shall we?” 

Marie was a true lifesaver. She offered him a full time job at the café and arranged some cheap local accommodations to get him started. It was nothing fancy but it was safe and that was the most important thing of all. He avoided the news like the bubonic plague just in case there was any mention of his disappearance on there and was thankful that none of his new workmates ever brought it up. Work was long and hard but overall pretty enjoyable once he got the hang of it all. He liked getting to do something different and to be around people all the time without the weight of the Agreste family name tugging him down. Overall he was pretty content considering everything that had happened and he hoped with all his heart that it would stay that way. 

Marie watched her newest worker with motherly pride. As owner and manager of a superhero themed café she liked to help people out as much as possible especially troubled youths. It was clear to her that this boy Pierre whoever he really was (she knew a fake ID when she saw one) had come from a very difficult family situation. He was insecure and unconfident, a total perfectionist and was far too surprised and grateful for even very small pieces of kindness and attention to be healthy. On the other hand he was kind, hardworking and willing to listen and learn. Watching his daily progress as he grew in confidence and made friends among the other employees was a delight. Despite it only being 2 weeks since he had shown up one evening like a stray cat left out in the rain he also seemed to be filling out well physically. He was too skinny before and he clearly hadn’t been fed enough at his last place so she resolved to give him even more food than she had been doing before. 

Adrien contentedly wiped down another table and looked at it with satisfaction. The café had become home to him and he felt proud to help look after it and make it run smoothly. He smiled gently to himself as he heard the sound of the bell on the door signalling a new customer and headed towards the counter to get his notepad and pen. He turned to scan the room for the newcomers but suddenly felt his heart freeze as his eyes locked on Alya and Marinette taking off their jackets and settling down at a table by the window. Adrien looked around with a growing sense of panic as he realised he would have to serve them. Of course they came to this café, it was a Ladybug themed café and Alya ran the biggest Ladybug blog in Paris if not the world. 

He quickly found Armand one of the other guys he worked with and asked him to cover the newcomers for him. Armand raised an eyebrow at him curiously “Why don’t you want to serve those 2 girls? Is one of them you ex or something??” “No!” His response was too fast and left him floundering for an excuse, any excuse. “So?” “Um… one of them is really cute??” Ok that was officially a terrible excuse but he couldn’t go and tell him the real reason he was avoiding people who might recognise him because let’s face it if anyone was going to see through him it would probably be Alya.  
Armand snorted and looked at him with amusement “Which one?” “Er…” well he couldn’t say Alya Nino would never forgive him ”…the one with pigtails?” His co-worker gave him a friendly push in their direction “So go and talk to her then!” Well that excuse backfired spectacularly. He tried vainly to get out of it again but ended up finding himself standing awkwardly near their table but not near enough to be noticed. Then again Alya and Marinette were normally so wrapped up in their own conversations that they didn’t notice what was going on around them. 

“Come on girl you needed to get out of the house” Alya was quietly urging her companion

Adrien wondered if Marinette had been up all night working on another design project again but her next words brought him down to earth with a cold bump.

“I can’t stop thinking about him Alya, I’m so worried” Marinette groaned 

“We’re all really worried about Adrien” Alya replied anxiously “but there’s only so much we can do and it’s not healthy to stay cooped up in your room all the time.”

Adrien felt sick to his stomach, he thought Nino would be bummed out for a couple of weeks and Chloe might kick up a fuss for a couple of days but he didn’t think anyone would really be that worried about him leaving. Certainly not Alya and Marinette who he wasn’t exactly super close with in the first place. 

He found himself awkwardly coughing before he overheard any more things he didn’t really want to hear. It wasn’t as if he didn’t have a good reason to leave, he needed to protect his miraculous from Hawkmoth after all.

Alya and Marinette slightly jumped at being interrupted but quickly recovered and looked down at their menus to order. He took their order as fast as possible without making eye contact with either of them and hurried away again. 

He had forgotten about Armand waiting behind the counter trying hard not to burst out laughing. “Dude you are so bad at talking to girls” he sniggered into his hand “you couldn’t even look her in the eye!” Adrien internally groaned, why did he make everything harder for himself? “Ok” Armand put his hands on Adrien’s shoulders “When you take over their order you are going to look her in the eye and actually speak to her.” “And if I don’t?” he opened one eye warily already dreading the answer. “I’ll go over there and tell her you like her myself and ask her for her number for you.” “No no no you absolutely cannot do that!” He was in so much trouble. When they ordered they had barely glanced at him but he really couldn’t risk them looking at him closely. “Fine” he groaned “I will try to talk to her”

5 minutes later he walked over to their table vainly trying to keep calm and composed. “One espresso and one hot chocolate” he said as he placed their drinks on the table in front of Alya and Marinette respectively. “Can I get you anything else?” he asked after they murmured their thanks distractedly. “Oh. No thank you.” Marinette replied rather faintly. Adrien couldn’t help feeling a wave of compassion for his friends so he smiled at her kindly “Well if there is anything else I can help you with let me know.” Marinette nodded and smiled but it looked like tears were welling up in her eyes so with a wrench in his gut he turned and walked away. 

A week later Marinette stumbled through the drenched streets of Paris in the pouring October rain, she had been tracking down a lead that she had desperately hoped might be Adrien only for it to be a red herring. Soaked to the skin and miserable she squeaked when a bolt of lightning seemingly came out nowhere. She dashed towards the nearest shelter she could find and pulled open the door to discover the Ladybug themed café that Alya had forcibly dragged her to the previous week. She didn’t like to be reminded of her superhero alter ego when she felt like a total failure at finding one missing person. One very important missing person true, but still a supposedly simple missing person case that a superhero of 4 years should be able to solve.

She jumped as she heard a soft voice behind her “Are you ok?” She spun around wide eyed to see a rather tall boy wearing black jeans, a white open collared shirt and a long white apron down to below his knees looking at her with concern. He was probably about her own age and had rather unkempt short brown hair, deep brown eyes and large thick black glasses. She thought she vaguely recognised him as their waiter from before but it was all rather fuzzy. There was something so intrinsically calming about his voice and manner that Marinette found herself letting out a slightly relieved laugh that somehow ended up sounding more like a small sob. 

The boy, Pierre, his name tag read looked rather more worried than before and suddenly seemed to take in her appearance. “You’re dripping wet! Why don’t you have an umbrella?” He darted behind the counter and reappeared a moment later with 2 towels. He gently laid one around her shoulders and pulled her into a chair on the other side of the room. It was tucked in next to a small crackling fireplace she hadn’t even noticed. He passed her the other towel for her to dry her hair with and promptly disappeared again. As she sat warming by the cosy fireplace wrapped snuggly in fluffy white towels she couldn’t help thinking of where Adrien was and if he was out in this rainstorm too. She felt the tears rolling steadily down her cheeks as she suppressed the sobs building up. 

“Here” Pierre had returned again and this time held a chocolat chaud laden with cream in one hand and a kouign-amann pastry on a small plate in the other. “It’ll help you warm up and it’s good comfort food as well” he offered gently with a shy smile. Marinette wiped her tears away with the back of her hand and placed the treats down on the small table next to her. He seemed to hesitate not sure what to do next so she waved to the armchair opposite her own for him to sit down, she didn’t want to be alone right now. 

She sat back and closed her eyes with a sigh only to open them a minute later at his tentative voice. “Are you ok?” He seemed nervous as if fearing the answer to the question. She cupped both her hands around her mug and stared into the roaring fireplace as if it held the answers to all her questions. “A friend of mine is missing” she began in almost a whisper as if it were a secret and not something featured on the main news almost every day. She ventured a glance at him as he remained silent to see him listening to her closely. Taking his attentiveness as a sign to continue she ploughed on “He disappeared without a trace 3 weeks ago, didn’t even take his phone with him. Never said a word to anybody just vanished one night without warning. Everyone at school has all these crazy theories that he was kidnapped or ran away or abducted by aliens. The more I listen to people coming up with weird and scary ideas the more frightened I get. I just want to know that he is ok.” She broke off suddenly feeling a lump growing in her throat again. 

Pierre patiently sat and watched her drink her chaud, giving her time and considering his own words carefully. She appreciated his gentle kindness and compassion for a stranger he didn’t even know. “I think it’s good to hope for the best and never assume the worst” he said at last “panicking about possible worst case scenarios doesn’t help anyone and most likely aren’t even true. Also I think it’s good to let your schoolmates know that their theories frighten you. They probably don’t even know they are doing it and will hold back from talking about it in front of you in future. Hope is the most powerful thing in the world; if we hold tightly onto it then it will help us through the darkest of times. Don’t give up hope on your friend, I’m sure everything will get better in time.”

Marinette couldn’t help feeling a profound sense of gratitude to him for listening to her so carefully and kindly. She could always talk to Alya and Nino but it was a relief to speak to someone who wasn’t emotionally involved in the issue.

They sat and quietly chatted for a little while longer before she made her way towards the door to head home. “Thank you so much for everything” she turned to him with an easier smile than she had felt in weeks. “It’s no problem at all.” he returned kindly. “Oh I never introduced myself! My name is Marinette.” She extended a hand to him in greeting, he seemed surprised and hesitated before extending his own hand to lightly clasp hers “Pierre.” “It’s very nice to meet you” she walked through the door he held open for her “I’ll see you around?” She caught sight of his nod before hurrying away home with a slightly lighter step than before.

Adrien felt torn. Part of him was regretting talking to Marinette in case she came back and figured out who he was but another part of him enjoyed seeing an old friend and couldn’t bring himself to push her away. Her soft blue eyes were calming and radiated a welcoming sense of familiarity to his upturned life. For that reason he kept a close eye out for her in case she should ever return to his little sanctuary ever again. 

4 days later Marinette returned with an exhausted looking Alya and a pale stressed Nino. They dragged 2 small tables together with Marie’s permission and spread a large volume of papers over the top of them as well as 2 laptops and 3 phones. Adrien didn’t dare glance at what they studied so carefully but the uncomfortable knot in his stomach was enough confirmation for him. He shifted awkwardly behind the counter as they dragged out their things and appeared to be setting up for the whole of the damp breezy afternoon going on inside. It was distressing to watch their misery and see how much time and effort they were putting into looking for him when he was right there and doing fine. Ok he wasn’t doing fine, he had great difficulty sleeping and frequently woke up with nightmares.

With a sigh he decided to do what he could for his friends while he could. Surely this situation couldn’t last forever and when it was all over he could explain everything to them. He had every confidence in his friends and the fact that they would be understanding. Adrien was still anxious about Nino recognising him though and took the opportunity to go over to their table when Nino went to the restroom. 

Taking a deep breath Adrien stepped over and placed 3 cups of ginger tea and a plate of lemon macarons down onto the only place he could find room on the table. Marinette’s head shot up instantly and looked at him in surprise which he had expected considering they ordered anything yet. “What’s this?” her voice didn’t display any displeasure only interest and curiosity. “Ginger and lemon are both good for calming nervous upset stomachs and I thought macarons would be easy to eat while you work so…” he trailed off lamely suddenly feeling embarrassed and resisting the urge to rub the back of his neck. He had to keep reminding himself not to display any ‘Adrien’ like traits that his friends would pick up on. 

“Thank you” Marinette’s reply was tender and full of unspoken emotion as he looked straight into his eyes. “Any time” his reply was like an unspoken promise, a silent vow to be there for her in whatever way he could for as long as could. 

After that Marinette’s visit’s to his own little piece of paradise became gradually more frequent and as the days slipped by and turned colder they spent an increasing amount of time in each other’s company. On her bad days he would bring her peppermint tea to settle her nerves and a light slice of mille-feuille to nibble at her own pace, while on her better days he would pour an espresso and get her an extra-large slice of opera cake with a wink.  
Many times they would sit in companionable silence listening to the gentle crackling of the fireplace lost in their own thoughts but on other occasions easy threads of conversation would drift in and out depending on the mood. Adrien found her visits to be a reassuring stability in his life and he eagerly looked forward to her next one. This earned him no end of teasing from his workmates but her presence was undoubtedly worth it. At first he convinced himself that she was merely a good friend but over time it became hard to deny even to himself how he craved the solace of her company and how his heart fluttered when she smiled at him. He felt a light blush touching his cheeks as he thought about her during his more idle moments working and even more so sitting alone at night in his tiny room. With a sigh as he flopped down on his small bed he finally conceded that he thought of his kind classmate as more than a friend. 

At first Marinette didn’t know why she felt perpetually drawn to jardin de coccinelles, it was a curious feeling almost like being pulled in by gravitational forces stronger than herself. Pierre was a rock in hard times, endlessly supportive, patient and understanding. He always seemed to sense when she wanted to be quiet and when she wanted to express her feelings. It still amazed her that they had struck up such an easy relaxed friendship in a matter of mere weeks but she was eternally grateful for the support. Not that she didn’t have an abundance of support from Alya, Nino, her parents and other classmates but coming to Pierre was like escaping a storm. It was one thing to have a friend with you in a storm but another for someone to offer you a place to hide from the storm for a while. Adrien was like a golden ray of sunshine on a summer’s day, he brought a brightness and energy into her world that she admired and basked in however Pierre was like a fireplace on a cold winters night, a source of warmth, comfort and reassurance that she was going to get through the hard times and there was light on the other end. 

Alya looked at her curiously from her place next to her at their desk. “Marinette?” she asked cautiously as if not to startle her “What are you thinking about?” 

“Nothing, why?” Marinette glanced across innocently only to freeze at the look on Alya’s face. She knew that look far too well by now to not be afraid.  
“You were smiling to yourself and humming girl.” Alya squinted at her and pushed her glasses up her nose. 

Marinette could feel a blush threatening to creep over her face under Alya’s scrutiny and only worsening by the mental image of Pierre’s handsome face gently smiling at her. 

“It’s a boy!” Alya sat back with a jump. When had she got so close to her?

“Adrien??” Nino’s head shot up from his desk in front of them.

“No, sorry Nino” Marinette responded with a painful wince.

“So you admit there is a boy” Alya responded without missing a single beat.

“He’s just a friend Alya” Marinette groaned knowing only too well this was far from the last she would ever hear about it.

Nino had flopped his head back down on his desk again preparing to go back to sleep. He always seemed to be pulling all-nighters these days as he hunted desperately for his best friend with diminishing hope. 

“So, what’s his name? When can I meet him?” Alya pressed on regardless seeming relieved for a change in subject from Adrien’s disappearance. They were all exhausted and frustrated and rapidly running out of options on what to do. 

“Pierre, he’s just a friend and you have already met him more than once. He works as a waiter at that café we normally go to.” Marinette’s reply was weary.

“You mean the café that you practically live at these days?” her friend couldn’t help pointing out.

“It’s nice place” Marinette mumbled into the sleeve of her oversized sweater as she rested her elbows down in front of her.

“Well I’m just going to have to go along and see that for myself” Alya’s voice betrayed the plotting going on in her mind.

This is not going to end well Marinette thought to herself drowsily. 

Alya stepped confidently in through the door leaving a nervous Marinette and a reluctant Nino trailing in her wake. She instantly spotted the brown haired boy with glasses as he perked up adorably at the sight of Marinette coming in from the street. As he trotted happily over she looked at him more carefully. Tall and broad with dark brown eyes he was about as far from Marinette’s usual type as Alya could picture. Judging from her love for Adrien and her blatant though denied crush on Chat Noir before now it had seemed safe to assume she liked blonde haired boys with green eyes and slight frames but maybe it was the kindness not the looks that drew her in. Pierre was clearly listening to her carefully and kindly picking her a chair in the corner out of the cold where she would be most comfortable. 

Sighing and glancing over at Nino she saw that he was engrossed in his phone so she dragged him over to the table with her. When Pierre laughed though she saw the look on Nino’s face freeze in shock. His eyes were blown out wide and he moved his head up so slowly it could have been in slow motion. First his eyes fixed on the silver ring she hadn’t noticed that the waiter was wearing and then gradually made his way up to his face with a look of stunned realisation. 

“Adrien?” Nino’s voice was faint and wavering.

The look of confusion on Marinette’s face was not a surprise but the horror that grew on the other boys face was. 

“I can’t believe it’s you!” Nino seemed to recover some of his strength and threw his arms out with a step forward to embrace the boy.

He missed as Pierre took a quick stumble backwards and shook his head vehemently with fear lurking in his eyes “I’m s-sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

It was too late. Alya had also seen it and now couldn’t unsee it again. True he looked physically different but the mannerisms especially when nervous or startled were a dead giveaway. Marinette seemed to be the last one to connect the dots and that was only when Adrien panicked and took off running. 

He spun on his heels and dashed off through a door behind the counter. Alya charged after him with her friends hot on her heels, they ran through a kitchen almost running into someone in the process and tumbled out onto to old alleyway.

Adrien was in the process of climbing over a wall on the other side of the alley when 3 pairs of hands grabbed his legs pulling him back into the safety of their arms. In his head Adrien feared everything that was going to happen next but in his heart he knew that he needed his friends and together they would work to find a way to work through all of his problems.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who left comments on the previous chapter! I wasn't originally going to continue it but since people asked if I would carry on I decided to do another chapter. I really hope you like it :)

Marie found the 4 of them soon afterwards collapsed in a pile on the wet leaf strewn cobblestones. She quickly ushered them inside and urged Adrien to take them back to his room nearby to dry off and warm up. He knew from her body language and voice that she had at least some vague idea of what was going on so he led his friends the short distance from the café to where he was living. Nino and Marinette clutched his arms the whole way there as if in fear of him disappearing again. Alya seemed more like if she didn’t start asking questions in the very near future she was going to internally combust.

It wasn’t long before they were squished into Adrien’s small attic room; it was a pretty decent room considering the price though there wasn’t enough space for all of them. The walls were light and clean while the circular window looked down over a bustling street below. Marinette and Alya sat perched on his single bed drying their hair with a towel between them while Adrien and Nino sat cross legged on the wooden floor in front of them. 

“Dude we have all been so worried about you, what happened?” Nino was the first to break the silence that hung heavily in the room.

“I’m so sorry” Adrien’s voice in turn was small and guilty “I know you were looking for me but I had to stay in hiding.”

“Why? What or who are you hiding from?” Alya was being rather restrained considering the circumstances and Adrien was incredibly grateful that she was reading the atmosphere and holding back for his sake. 

He took a deep breath and sighed. “If I tell you why I’m here I will have to explain everything including things that no one is supposed to know about.”

Nino put a supportive arm on his shoulder “We’re your best friends, you can tell us anything and trust that we won’t tell anyone else. You know that right?” 

Adrien gave a small smile “I do know that Nino.” He wished he had time to talk to Plagg and preferably Ladybug as well about all of this but he knew by now that he needed help from someone and this situation couldn’t go on forever. He had been intending to talk to Ladybug at the next Akuma attack so they could plan a way to defeat Hawk Moth and take his miraculous, not that he wanted to think too hard about the last part. The trouble was there hadn’t been any attacks since he had left, in hindsight it wasn’t too surprising that his father’s immediate priorities had switched from supervilliany to searching for his missing son. Though a part of his heart still felt glad that his father cared enough about him to be putting such effort into finding him. 

Marinette’s words snapped him out of his thoughts “Adrien, are you in some sort of trouble?”

He looked up to see her face etched with concern and worry for him and felt his heart squeeze at causing her pain. At causing all of them pain. It was time to confess and let them help him through this. 

He started at the beginning with receiving his miraculous and becoming Chat Noir then described the conversation he had overheard to discover his father’s own miraculous use as well as Natalie’s. He tried to swallow down the lump in his throat as he did, though he couldn’t ignore the gasp of shock he heard when he revealed Hawk Moth’s secret identity. It was hard to find the words when he was feeling so emotional especially since he felt conflicted about them being the first to know. He loved and treasured his friends dearly but still felt that his partner should have been the first to find out. The few solo patrols he had found the time and energy to do since his departure had yielded no sightings of the spotted heroine he so desperately sought. 

At the end of his story he found the courage to look up at each of their faces to gauge their reaction to everything. Nino looked pale and anxious, Alya looked in shock and Marinette was anxiously chewing on her lip as if trying to make a difficult decision. In the end she settled on dropping to her knees and engulfing him in a tight hug. It felt like the flood gate of his repressed emotions had been opened and he felt himself breaking down and sobbing onto her shoulder. He soon felt 2 more pairs of arms wrap around him as he found himself in the middle of a protective group hug. It was as if they wanted their arms to protect him from everything he had been through and would yet have to do. 

“I’m so sorry dude, why didn’t you come to me?” Nino himself was sounded pretty choked up by the whole situation.

“I couldn’t put you and your family in danger Nino” Adrien looked at his friend sadly “I had a plan to tell Ladybug everything but I haven’t seen her since.”

“There’s a reason for that” Marinette now looked like she had steely determination in her eyes. “I couldn’t tell you all before for your own safety but things have changed now. I’m Ladybug and-

“What?!” Alya apparently couldn’t hold it in any longer “Seriously?? You’ve both been right in front of me this whole time!” 

Marinette gave Alya a look that seems to imply now wasn’t the time for freaking out or fangirling. Adrien though was grateful for a lighter topic of conversation even though he was now desperate to talk to Marinette alone. 

“I’m surprised you didn’t cat-ch on quicker Alya” 

Nino groaned and put his head in his hands “I should have guessed from the bad puns” 

“Oh come on that was a good one.”

“No dude. It really wasn’t.”

Adrien quickly sobered up with a look at Marinette “We do need to have a serious conversation about what to do next though.” 

She nodded quickly but looked at Alya and Nino as well to his surprise. “The 4 of us need to come up with a plan of action.” 

“No offense at all but the 4 of us?” He winced a little as he said it but was relieved that nobody looked offended.

Alya grinned mischievously at him. “Alya is Rena Rouge and Nino is Carapace.” Marinette explained quickly.

“Well there goes any remaining guilt I had about telling my secret identity to civilians.”

The next few weeks they all met up regularly to plan and discuss the best way to retrieve both the butterfly and the peacock miraculous. Often they sat huddled around Adrien’s room drinking hot chocolate from the flask Marinette would bring along with cookies from her parent’s boulangerie patisserie. At others time they would take a small table at the café during quieter times to talk or just enjoy each other’s company. 

It was a frosty but bright early December day when Marinette came in alone bundled up against the cold. Armand noticed her standing nervously near the counter and sent a nudge and wink in Adrien’s direction. He whispered something in Marie’s ear before moving off to serve a customer. Adrien soon found out what it was when she suggested he take an early lunch break to leave with Marinette. It was an idea that he was quick to grab as he had been waiting to speak to her privately for some time. 

As he slipped out of the backroom with his own hat, scarf and coat he saw Marinette was now clutching a bag and 2 drinks in her hands. She passed him his cup with a light blush after placing the food into her backpack and together they walked outside in the direction of the nearest park. When they reached it their pace slowed and Adrien after a moment’s hesitation slipped his spare arm around her waist. It made his heart flutter when she returned the gesture and he hoped the redness on her checks wasn’t just from the cold air.

“So how are you doing? I mean really doing?” It was a gentle question she asked but one that he found difficult to answer all the same. 

Shaking his head he gave the most honest answer he could think of. “I’m scared. I’m anxious about having to face 2 people who practically raised me and I have so many questions running through my mind all the time that it’s hard to sleep or concentrate.”

“What sort of questions?” She wasn’t being pushy just patiently helping him express his feelings and confront his fears.

“What if we lose? What is Hawk Moth finds out who I am? Who you are? Will I be able to keep my emotions together in front of them? What will happen to them if we win? What will happen to me? Will everyone hate me when they know I am Hawk Moth’s son? What if I can’t get a job? What if I lose everyone I care about?”

“Adrien” Marinette softly placed a gloved hand on the side of his face to gently turn it towards her. “You know I don’t have the answer to all of your questions but we are going to get through this together. I don’t know how your father would react to your identity or what exactly will happen to them but I will do everything in my power to make sure everybody knows that you are a truly good person. That you had nothing to do with your father’s choices and you were the one who alerted me to his identity. Obviously I will only tell the media what you want me to say but I’m not going to let anyone, especially our classmates, think that you share any guilt or blame in any of this.”

Adrien sighed watching his breath fog up in the cold winter’s air in front of him. “I really appreciate that but sometimes I have a hard time myself not feeling at all guilty for everything that has happened. How could I have gone 4 years before realising they were right there in front of me?” 

“I think you are always going to be the hardest person to convince that none of this is your fault but the truth is it isn’t. Your father made his decisions and you made yours. He is a very secretive person, if he wanted to hide it from you then he was more than capable of doing so especially with Natalie’s help.” 

She gently tugged him down onto a cold but dry wooden park bench near them and pulled out the bag of croissant’s and religieuse pastries. He finished off his hazelnut latte and accepted a pastry from Marinette. 

“Do you ever worry about the future?” he inquired turning to look at her expression. She gazed off beyond the bare trees into the distance with a thoughtful frown. 

“Of course I worry about it sometimes” she replied turning back to him again “But at the end of the day we can’t control the future, we can only make the best choices possible in the present and hope everything will turn out well in the end.”

“When did you get so wise?” he said quirking a smile at her sideways.

She shook her head with a short laugh “I’m not wise and sadly I can’t make any guarantee’s for the future but I can promise you one thing.” She was looking at him seriously now though with a slight flush “I promise you that no matter what happens I will always be by your side. I am going to do everything to help and support you through this and no matter what anybody else says or does I will never abandon you or be ashamed to stand up for you. I love you with all my heart and I always will.”

Adrien could feel the pressure building up behind his eyes and the tightness in his throat but he refused to miss this precious moment to tell her how he felt. “I love you too. With all that I have and with all that I am.” 

The dreaded day dawned gloomy and murky, Adrien took the day off work after helping out with the morning rush knowing he wouldn’t be in any state to come back afterwards no matter what happened. He slowly made his way back to the mansion feeling an increasing amount of nausea in his twisting stomach. Meeting the others outside only made what they were about to do hit home further though Marinette gave him an encouraging squeeze of the hand to try to steady his nerves. 

What happened next seemed to pass by in a flash. His father and Natalie had been caught off guard and outnumbered by the superhero’s that Ladybug had called in to help so it wasn’t long before their brooches were removed and the police were on the scene. He hadn’t wanted to stick around any longer than absolutely necessary so Ladybug had quietly asked Carapace and Rena Rouge to take him back to her place while she finished up and returned the other miraculous’ to Master Fu. She must have done so in lightening quick time considering how fast she joined him on the couch in her family’s living room. 

He didn’t know how much later it was that he became aware of her parents in the room. They were probably wondering what on earth a strange boy was doing sobbing into their daughters lap in their apartment. He hadn’t yet removed his disguise and now felt somewhat anxious about the thought of doing so. 

To his surprise he only heard her mother’s gentle and concerned questions about his well-being. It touched his heart that they cared so much about someone who appeared to be a stranger to them and it reminded him so much of Marinette’s own kindness for the people she encountered. 

He forced himself to sit up only to find Marinette quickly hurrying back to his side again with Nino close behind her. He mustered a somewhat watery smile “It’s ok, you can tell your parents who I am” he managed to say embarrassed at how hoarse it came out. 

“Are you sure?” came her gentle reply to which he nodded his affirmation. He didn’t want her to keep any secrets that weren’t absolutely necessary from the parents who clearly loved and trusted her so much. 

He knew as soon as she had told them for he found himself swept off the ground in Tom’s huge affectionate embrace. The only reason Sabine wasn’t joining in was she couldn’t reach him. 

The rest of the evening alternated between being hugged by everyone and by being fed as much food as he could manage. As good as their Bouillabaisse was he was struggling to eat anything after the tumultuous events of the day. He deeply appreciated their hospitality though as he curled up on the couch for the night casting a glance at Nino crashed out asleep on the other couch and hoped he could spend a lot more time with them in better times ahead. He yawned and tried to settle off to sleep knowing he would have to head to the police station in the morning to stop the search for him and give his side of the story. 

3 months later Adrien jogged up the stairs carefully balancing a Gateau St. Honore in one hand and a Paris-Brest cake in the other. He had quickly ditched the colour changing contact lenses but decided to keep the glasses for now. The door opened at the top to reveal Marinette smiling at him and helping take one of the pastries in his hand. They set them down on the kitchen table before joining Tom, Sabine, Nino and Alya in the living room. So much had happened in the last 3 months and while Gabriel and Natalie had been sentenced to prison many good things had taken place as well. His classmates had been incredibly supportive and while some people were suspicious of him the public as a whole were sympathetic. He put this mainly down to the statement Ladybug had made defending him and praising him for his assistance. While he had been given his father’s entire estate since he was a legal adult , including the mansion though he chose to live in an apartment instead, he still wanted to work part time like everyone else graduating Lycee and heading into University. Since Jardin de coccinelles was too far away from school, though he still visited his friends there and everyone else who had shown him such kindness, he had gladly accepted the job Tom and Sabine had offered him. As a bonus he got to see Marinette a great deal more than before. 

He couldn’t help giving her a sideways glance as he thought appreciatively of all the support she had shown him. As if reading his mind he heard Sabine’s voice “Marinette dear will you go into the kitchen and cut up the cakes for us, I’m sure Adrien will help you.”

He followed her dutifully away from the others to prepare the food while thinking of everything else he wanted to say to her. 

“Marinette” he gently placed his hand on her arm when they were alone “I just wanted to thank you for all that you have done for me.”

She seemed surprised but her face quickly softened “Of course, I was happy to do as much for you as possible. I promised I would always be here for you and I meant it.”

“It means more to me than I can ever say. You mean more to me than I can put into words. You are an amazing person and I am so grateful to have you in my life. I love you with all my heart and I want to ask you, will you be mine? Can I be yours?”

“Yes. A thousand times yes!” He could see the unshed tears starting to gleam in her sapphire blue eyes as he reached over and pulled her into a tight knowing in that moment that with her by his side everything was going to be ok.


End file.
